Antioxidant Salad

Last night I cooked for two amazing friends, Goldie and Michael.  Both are vegetarian and people I consider to have high standards for what they put in their bodies.  Thus, I pulled out my favorite unique recipes in order to impress.  I made my favorite green miso soup (April 2011) and an amazing salad full of antioxidant filled ingredients. Goldie made some black rice with coconut oil.  Then to finish the evening Michael brought Coconut Bliss for dessert!

Ingredients
handful arugula
handful sunflower sprouts
1/3 avocado
1/4 cup edamame
1/4 cup blueberries
2 oz pomegranate glazed salmon
2 oz pomegranate glazed tofu
pomegranate vinaigrette

Method- Super Simple
Brush salmon and tofu with pomegranate vinaigrette and bake for 20 mins at 350 degrees.  Toss the remaining ingredients in a bowl and top with the salmon and tofu!

Stuffed Peppers

My local farmer's market has had some amazing peppers recently, so I decided put a spin on a recipe my mom made when I was little for stuffed peppers! This recipe is easy and involves few ingredients. Feel free to add or subtract any ingredients to the rice mixture to give it your own spin. For example, my mom always adds tomato sauce to the rice mixture but I decided not to- however it tastes great either way!

Ingredients
3-4 bell peppers- color of your choosing
1 1/2 cups mixed rice- cooked
1/2 cup celery
1/2 cup red onion
3/4 can kidney beans- rinsed
1/4 cup cilantro
2 tbs earth balance butter
salt and pepper
salsa

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut a hole in the top of each pepper and remove the core and seeds.  Boil for 15-20 mins until soft.  Drain and cool.  In a separate bowl combine the rice, diced celery, diced red onion, kidney beans, chopped cilantro, earth balance and salt and pepper.  Place the peppers upright in a baking dish and stuff with the rice mixture.  Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool and serve topped with a dollop of salsa.

Vegan Banana French Toast

Well it looks like Hurricane Irene has been downgraded to a "Tropical Storm"......though I would just call it a rain storm, as there is nothing tropical about whats going on outside. We are however stuck inside so what better to do than make brunch and watch soccer! I made vegan french toast, which is super easy and amazingly good, with a side of sauteed kale and shitake mushrooms.

Ingredients
1 ripe banana
1/4 cup almond or soy milk (vanilla is best)
4 slices bread of your choice (artisan breads are the best-like orange cranberry)
cinnamon
nutmeg

Method
Heat a frying pan to med-high. Mash the banana in a bowl with the almond milk. Add a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg. Spray the pan with non-stick spray. Dip the bread and lightly toast in the pan. Top with fresh banana and cinnamon.

Costa Rican Inspiration

I had an amazing post-bar trip to Colorado and then to Costa Rica......again this year.  This trip I was introduced to Cassava root and have really used typical Costa Rican fare to inspire my cooking since I have been back in Boston.

Cassava root, also known as Yucca, is a root vegetable native to South America. With a consistency very similar to a potato this root is super absorbent and takes on the flavor of the ingredients you cook it with. Cassava is higher in fiber and potassium than potatoes and is perfect boiled, fried, or in soups.

For dinner one night I got vegan tortilla soup from Whole Foods and boiled then lightly pan sauteed cassava root for a hearty side dish.  Cassava should be peeled, cored, and boiled.  It should not be eaten raw.

I also ate many many Costa Rican casados while traveling there last month.  The casado is a national dish consisting of beans, rice, plantains, salad, and a meat.  Finding a vegetarian casado was rarely difficult.  Vegetarian casados usually included sauteed veggies of different varieties. Last week I made a traditional casado with mixed rice, black beans, sauteed kale and summer squash, jicima avocado slaw and poached tilapia with cantaloupe salsa.

Straight From The Garden

For my post bar vacation I am home in Colorado for a 6 days.  I have been so lucky to get to stay with T's parents before going to my cabin on the flattops.  This morning I went on a beautiful 3 mile run- the air here is so crisp, I love running here, even though its at altitude.  Then Lori and Heather and I went to a Bar Method class....wow I'll be sore tomorrow. Next, I met up with the lovely Tara Donovan for coffee. And then I went to the best whole foods ever!!!! I got to see Brian Sanner, had an amazing veggie juice and got an awesome lunch- quinoa salad, kale and avocado, arame and buckwheat salad, thai chili cucumbers, and asian slaw. After my lunch Heather and I lounged in the back yard getting our vitamin D!

 Tonight we made dinner almost entirely from Lori's garden.  For an appetizer I made an artichoke basil pesto, with grilled portobello mushrooms on sourdough bread. And for dinner we had fish, with beets, steamed green and wax beans, and a cucumber salad all from the garden. For dessert Lori made vegan shortbread biscuits, with fresh berries from the garden and vegan whipped topping!

 ARTICHOKE BASIL PESTO

Ingredients
1 can artichoke hearts, drained, tough leaves removed
1/4 cup pine nuts
fresh basil
1 clove garlic
EVOO

Method
Blend ingredients in a food processor or blender, adjust ingredients to your liking. (I've used half pine nuts and half chick peas, or no garlic, its really about what you like or have ingredients for).

CUCUMBER SALAD

Ingredients
1 large sliced cucumber
2 tbs apple cider vinegar
2 tbs shoyu
red pepper flakes
toasted sesame seeds

Method
Toss ingredients together and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour

Emptying My Fridge...To Make Flying Easier

No one likes to come home from vacation to have to clean out their fridge.  But if you're like me you don't like to throw food out either. Last night I tried to use the majority of my veggies in a saute but didn't finish all of them, however what I did have left didn't seem to go together well.  So I improvised...I tweaked my green miso soup recipe to make a variation on an amazing soup, threw together an arugula salad with sesame sauteed asparagus, finished my leftover black rice, and baked the last of my tofu.

METHOD
My green miso soup recipe from April is basically vegetable stock, onion, swiss chard, and sweet white miso.  Tonight I only had about a quarter of an onion and a bunch of daikon radish, along with bok choy, and swiss chard.  So I sauteed the onion and daikon with safflower oil until translucent.  I added 2 cups of vegetable broth and brought it to a simmer.  I cut the ribs from the chard and diced it with bok choy and added it to the pot.  Then I added two tablespoons of sweet white miso and simmered for one more minute. I let it cool for about 15 minutes and threw it in the blender. (When I have more time I plan to try this soup chilled).

For my salad I diced asparagus and sauteed it in a little water until it evaporated, then lightly sauteed it for another minute with sesame oil.  While the asparagus was still hot I tossed it with the arugula so it would wilt a little.  The tofu (a la Goldie) I broiled with EVOO and your choice of spices (I used lemon pepper) until golden on the edges.

My next hurdle was food while flying. For many of us finding good food while flying is difficult. So in order to clean out my fridge even further I have packed breakfast and lunch for tomorrow.  I have some leftover soup from tonight for breakfast, which I plan to eat before I leave for the airport, at 4 AM!!!!! Then once I'm on my flight I have leftover rice and half a banana (mashed banana and rice is a lot like oatmeal with rice but more hearty- I love it).  I put some arugula and crumbled pita chips in a little tupperware, which I plan to toss with some leftover tomato and olive saute from last night. And last, just in case I need a snack I have some edamame in a baggie, half an apple, as well as the last of my almonds. Happy travels!!!